The Leslie Controls unit of Circor International Inc. (CIR) is facing asbestos lawsuits worth $18.7 million for products, such as control valves, made with asbestos used in U.S. Navy ships between the 1940s and 1980s. This caused asbestos-related diseases, according to the Wall Street Journal. As a result, CIR has to pay millions of dollars to defend Leslie.

Every year, 2,000 to 3,000 Americans are diagnosed with mesothelioma or a rare form of cancer caused by exposure to asbestos, as well as lung cancer and asbestosis, as per the statics released by the National Cancer Institute.

Circor’s chairman and CEO, Bill Higgins, stated that “The cost of this defense has exceeded the profits generated by Leslie’s operations, and we have been considering for some time a range of strategic alternatives that would enable us to permanently eliminate this risk.” In the second quarter of last year, Leslie Controls accounted for just 5.5 percent of CIR’s total revenues. CIR has set up a $75 million trust to pay for the asbestos claims in the present and in the future.

A company that used to supply asbestos based insulation and other products has been held 20 percent responsible in this case. The rest of the defendants, as mentioned above, were 17 people that have had professional relationships with the deceased were held accountable. However, an appeal was forwarded and a retrial will be held to determine the exact cause of Mr. Collins’ death. It is pretty clear that asbestos on navy ships has caused the disease, but the court wants to establish exactly who should be held responsible for the death. An asbestos risk representative for veterans association believes that the Navy should be held responsible because they didn’t provide with the necessary safety equipment. This just goes to show that even welders are exposed to asbestos, so it really is a great idea to wear protective gear.

Ulysses Collins died of mesothelioma five years ago. He had worked in naval shipyards from 1960-73 and 1976-94. 17 entities were ordered to share the damages in the asbestos lawsuit that obtained a jury verdict of $10 million. One of the entities that was allocated 20 percent of fault, Plant Insulation Company, appealed to the state First District Court of Appeals on the exclusion of the Navy from the list of those responsible.

In the words of the appellate court decision, “Plant argues the Navy’s immunity is essentially one from suit and does not mean the service owes no duty of care as to its enlisted personnel and civilian employees and thus cannot be characterized as a ‘tortfeasor’ for purposes of Proposition 51. Plaintiffs contend sovereign immunity is based on the historical adage ‘the King can do no wrong’ and therefore the Navy’s actions cannot be ‘wrongful’ and thus no ‘fault’ can be allocated to the service.”

The statement of the court that, “We agree with Plant and conclude the Navy is properly included among those entities to which fault may be apportioned in an asbestos case,” may have far-reaching consequences. Attorney Mark Behrens of Shook Hardy & Bacon calls the verdict “significant.”

The jury held the company’s asbestos-laden parts responsible for the plaintiff’s death as Hardick had worked as a shipfitter at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard where he used brushes and hammers to remove asbestos from ships, mainly sealants from pumps and valves. Hardick also served aboard the cruiser USS Newport News where he again came in contact with asbestos. The jury was quick to return a $5.98 million verdict that includes $2 million for Hardick’s pain and suffering; $1.15 million for the loss suffered by his widow; $2.5 million for lost future income; and $327,000 in medical and funeral expenses.

Hardick died within a year of discovering that he had mesothelioma, a disease that grows silently for decades before it manifests. John Crane Inc. will have to shell out $2.99 million of the verdict passed on April 13.

Smotherman served as a welder in the Air Force during the Korean War. He repaired aircraft at Chanute Air Force Base in Illinois and in Newfoundland. Subsequently, he also worked in a similar capacity at various nuclear power plants, a shipyard in Toledo and several local foundries; in fact, he continued on various assignments from the Toledo Area Sheet Metal Workers Union Local 33 till he retired 1988.

As a welder, Smotherman was exposed to asbestos for many years as were so many other welders along with him. The professional hazard that he was oblivious to finally showed signs after the long latency inherent to the disease and another life was claimed by the disease on March 4.

The funeral was held at Reeb Funeral Home on March 9. The family of Melvin requests that tributes be made in his name to the Special Olympics Ohio chapter in Hilliard.

The asbestos navy ship caught fire two weeks ago and since then the company that will handle the demolition announced that the work is set to overrun by four months. Members of the environmental organization opposed the French ship arrival in town, because they know the health risk that can be caused by exposure to asbestos. People around the dismantling area can be exposed to asbestos fibers found in the toxic air produced by the dismantling action.

Meanwhile, the ship arrived on February 8 with the help of the Transfrontier Shipment of Waste Regulation 2007 which gave the dismantling firm 12 months to finish the work and take safety measures for people around and inform everybody about the health risks in case of asbestos contact.

Probably the project will be ended in late June because of a thin coating of asbestos.
The manager at the Environmental Agency said that” Able UK provided details of progress to date to recover the ship, a detailed program of their work plans, for the recovery planned to be ended in June.

Glyn Wheeler, the manager at the Able UK dismantling firm said that the highest safety will be taken and part of the ship where access is limited only people with great experience in asbestos dismantling will take action.

He also said that more then 70% of the total asbestos containing materials were already removed from the vessel and the rest will be removed until the end of April.

Asbestos exposure can cause mesothelioma cancer, a rare form of cancer which is practically deadly if not detected on time.

The Philippine government declares that the land and the water are still polluted, even if many years have passed since the military base has not worked on. The government declares that the area is polluted with heavy metals, fuel and asbestos. The base poured gallons of fuel and other chemicals into different areas, local fishing and swimming places which are now polluted with all those chemicals and people are exposed to health problems.

About 500 families refugee on the deserted military base, 76 people died and 63 more are suffering from diseases like mesothelioma cancer, asbestosis, lung cancer and other types of cancer caused by exposure to these dangerous chemicals founded at the deserted base.

The Philippine government and also the local resident have declared that the U.S military base is responsible of those people deaths and the suffering of others.

Private groups and environmentalists have tried to force a cleanup, but with no success. The area is still polluted with chemicals and asbestos and it almost impossible to clean it as new.

“An environmental clean up was scuttled by the two governments in the agreement that gave the Philippines billions of dollars in base infrastructure.” Sick locals are very unhappy about the situation and serious cases of mesothelioma and asbestosis are presented in reports, females and children with serious health issues.

Today, the land used in the past by the U.S. base is covered with hotels, parks, ranches and shops, but the area is still polluted and can threaten human health

Capitan John Marrak also volunteered for service in submarines in 1943, but he was sent again as a First Lieutenant to another destroyer called Vigilant. When working on the Vigilant he became aware about the asbestos danger. This vas shortly before the builders sprayed the inside of the vessel to combat the Artic cold. Later, Marrak was also trained in the Vindictive cruiser and he joined the battleship Nelson.

After he attended the postwar gunnery course in 1945 Capitan Marrak and Terry Lewin, one of his classmates, were selected for the “dagger” gunnery course and shortly after that they where selected for the most intellectually course initiated by the US Navy.

After a few years, Marrak continued by serving as a gunnery officer on different ships. In year 1955 he joined the Directorate of Naval Ordnance. He started to command the testing area at the Cardigan Bay time in which he realized that propellants liquids that tented to burn trough the propellants tubes are very dangerous. He was also the fist in duty to conduct for the first time tests shipboard on Seaslug shipboard  in the Girdleness trials.

He was named Capitan in 1962 and during the period trough the 1967-1969 he was a naval attaché in Bonn. Between 1970 and 1972 he served as a head of naval manpower future policy division.
He retired right after 1972, and in short time he become the administrative manager for Dawson, a firm of solicitors located in New Square. At the beautiful age of 88 years old, on November 7, 2009 Capitan John Marrak died.

He is known and remembered as a busy destroyer officer in the Second World War.

Asbestos mineral

Asbestos was widely used in the shipyard constructions, naval industries and many other industries. It was frequently used at the middle of the 20th Century. Asbestos is known to be a mineral, but a dangerous mineral, with great resistance to heat, fire and corrosion, and also as a very strong and resistance material. Asbestos was used as insulation for: car brakes, boilers, steam system, furnaces, electrical systems and many other locations.
The “miracle mineral”, like asbestos mineral is called, was banned in 1982, and after the studies elaborated by specialists that have shown that asbestos is very toxic and can cause different diseases like asbestosis or malignant mesothelioma.
If working with materials containing asbestos, risk to develop mesothelioma cancer is higher. Asbestos fibers released in the air, after damaging the materials containing the asbestos mineral can be inhaled or swallowed and this can cause damage to the pleura.
Asbestos is the main cause for developing pleural mesothelioma cancer. After it affects the lung the cancer continues affecting the abdominal cavity and the heart area.
People die every year of mesothelioma cancer. New cases are detected, but the patient’s stage of disease is very advanced and treatment does not respond. Symptoms of mesothelioma cancer can appear even after 40 years from the exposure, as they are nonspecific and can delay the diagnosis.

The USS Saipan

The USS Saipan was part of the U.S Navy. She was decommissioned and struck in 2007, from the Naval Vessel Register after 30 years of serving the country.
Until October 2008, Saipan was berthed at the reserve shipyard in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
International Shipbreaking said that this will be the first largest 28,000 tones ship ever scrapped by the company.
They also said that it will be great operations and workers are fully prepared to scrap the ship as soon as possible. High conditions of safety were developed for this great operation.
USS Saipan will be the first of the Tarawa class first big deck to be scrapped.

Removing asbestos

International Shipbreaking worker will first remove all asbestos materials from the ship and after will continue scraping the ship in small but they will also save some parts of the ship that will be use for other ships.
Is well known that asbestos products and materials were widely used in manufacturing the vessels of the U.S Navy ships. They used those materials and products because of their specific properties, not knowing at that time that asbestos exposure can lead to mesothelioma cancer.
Other ships, veteran ships, part of the U.S Navy, will be also verified, and if containing asbestos, measures will be taken.
Asbestos is the main cause for developing mesothelioma cancer. Mesothelioma or asbestosis can be fatal if not treated in time. It is very hard to diagnose this type of cancer because symptoms can appear even after 40 years of exposure.
People who have had contact with exposure present a higher risk to develop mesothelioma.